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Cognitive biases: how they might affect your college choice

April 3rd, 2017

With the clock ticking towards the May 1 Candidate’s Reply Date, it’s important to use your time wisely. After all, this major enrollment choice will have a huge impact on your academic career. Continue the work we’ve been doing over time: gather as much information as possible about each potential school choice and consider all aspects of the schools on your list. It might be a good idea to revisit your top choice colleges in order to compare the small differences. We also recommend speaking to as many current students as possible in order to gain insight into their experiences, and researching some of the professors in your area of interest.

Juniors and sophomores, we hope you’re paying attention, too. This advice is not only for seniors at the tail end of the college search process!

Amy Brennen, author of the article we share below, gives an interesting perspective on what she believes might be ruining the college selection process today. She offers three biases that are important to contemplate when making your final choice. We appreciate Brennen’s ability to help us dig deeper into this process and really examine our choices, and we’re pleased to have come across her article online.

Article published below by Amy Brennen on LinkedIn

November 9th 2016: Trump’s surprise election victory left the entire the United States in shock. How could Trump win when pundits knew he didn’t have a chance? His victory was not only a wake-up call for many, but also a poignant reminder of how our cognitive biases like overconfidence and confirmation bias can cloud our judgment.

Cognitive biases, i.e. commonly shared tendencies for our brain to think in ways that defy logic, often lead to poor judgments and bad decisions. Yet by becoming aware of our biases, we can begin to fight back against them, an ability that is especially important when it comes to making college decisions.

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